There are various experiences that we share as human beings but perhaps the most common and pervasive of these are grief, pain and suffering. What is different, however, is how we handle them. Some, with stoic resolve, bear it as a duty, some crumble under its pressure, others suffer seemingly irreversible trauma, and yet others undergo it joyfully knowing that it is but a temporary trial until the time that they receive a greater glory. I read one Christian in Russia say this about his suffering for the sake of Christ: “We would like to see an easing of our conditions, but not full ceasing of the oppression. We fear that liberty would make us lose the burning love of Christ.”
The message that Peter gives us here is rather radical. We must not fool ourselves into thinking that as Christians suffering is something to be avoided at all costs but rather suffering is something to embrace as it becomes that which God uses in our lives for His glory. Please do not think that because I am preaching this that I have fully realized the lesson of this passage. I would like to say I am only beginning but the more I think about it I have to ask myself, “Have I really even begun to have the right attitude toward suffering?” But though it is an impossible commission to fulfill apart from the grace of God, Peter’s message is clear enough. Peter’s key idea in this passage of Scripture is “Desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ in suffering.”
In telling us to desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ in suffering, Peter outlines three indispensable components of suffering that he wants us to consider.
1. The Call to Suffering
The first indispensable component of suffering that Peter wants us to consider is the call to suffering. In verses 18-21 we see this call to suffering. In the beginning of verse 21, Peter says that you have been called for this very purpose to suffer. We as Christians have been called to suffer.
In both verses 19 and 20 Peter uses the word grace in connection with suffering. Literally verse 19 reads as, “For this is grace, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrow when suffering unjustly. And at the end of verse 20 Peter again uses the word grace when he says, “When you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it this is grace with God.
Our suffering in the will of God for doing right receives grace. When we suffer with the right mindset and with the right action grace is given to us to suffer in a manner pleasing to God.
Do you remember the theme of 1 Peter? The GRACE of God is poured out on the ELECT that results in SUFFERING now and GLORY later. Here Peter says that suffering is a mark of God’s grace in your life in that we suffer in the right way. It is a sure sign of God’s grace. But how do you suffer in the right way? Peter notes two guides to help determine if our suffering is acceptable to God.
a. Our mindset
The first guide to determine the acceptability of our suffering is our mindset. This is what Peter mentions in verse 19, “For this finds favor if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. Peter says that this is grace (or acceptable) with God if we suffer because of a consciousness of God and His presence. What do I mean? We must possess a spiritual awareness of God. If we operate solely on the physical plane (making decisions without the awareness of God and His thoughts on a matter) what more are we doing than an unbeliever? Nothing! We are acting just like an unbeliever if we are operating on that basis without a consciousness of God in all our actions. If the awareness of God’s presence does not change our behavior then we are acting completely on this physical plane.
Paul says in Colossians 3, “If you have been raised up with Christ keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” Paul makes it clear that we are to be setting our mind and heart where Christ is since we have been raised up with Him. If we go throughout our week without setting our attention on God then how are we going to have a spiritual awareness of Him.
We are not to suffer with a grim stoical thought of, “I’ll just grin and bear it. I’ll get through.” No! We don’t suffer because it is our duty. We must have the right mindset in this. Peter describes why later, but we must understand that in our suffering God is near and concerned. We must recognize that we can have God’s peace when we are going through a trial even though we don’t understand why or how long the trial will last. And the reason we can have God’s peace is because we know that God is there. He has not deserted us. It is like when Hagar, who in her flight in the desert finally recognized that Yahweh is the God who truly sees (even when we are seemingly alone in the desert like Hagar God sees). And Peter says that we shouldn’t let God slip out of your day. Keep focused on the God who really sees, the God who is nearby. He will never leave you nor forsake you.
And we must recognize that the more we suffer with a consciousness that God is near the closer we will come to God because He will pour out more grace if we are only willing to receive it.
b. Our action
The second guide to determine the acceptability of our suffering is our action. This is what he notes in verse 20. “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? Peter indicates here that it is foolish to think that any suffering that we enter because we have done wrong is a mark of God’s grace. What credit is there when you sin and are harshly treated and rightly so? In that case we should take our punishment for doing wrong because we deserve it. What Peter wants us to understand here is that if we are experiencing a trial of suffering because of sin in our life, we shouldn’t think that God is somehow pleased in how we endure it. And neither is self-inflicted suffering acceptable to God. God isn’t pleased when we hurt ourselves. God doesn’t give us points when we beat our bodies like some monastic hermit.
It is when we are doing right and suffer for it that God is pleased. This is what the second part of verse 20 describes. “But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it this finds grace with God.” It is interesting to note Joseph’s life in the book of Genesis. In the midst of his suffering in jail for doing good, the Scripture says that the Lord was with Joseph and gave him grace. This is exactly about what Peter is talking. He had a consciousness of God’s presence and the mark of God’s grace was upon Him. The very reason Joseph was in jail in the first place was because he was conscious of God’s presence and refused to sin against God. God poured out His grace upon everything Joseph did because he definitely chose to do good regardless of the outcome of his actions. And in that choice to do good was God’s grace.
If we want our suffering to be a evident sign of God’s grace in our lives then we ought to live with a conscious awareness that the Lord is the God who sees and that we ought to decide to do good regardless of the consequences. Then God’s grace, which is poured out in our suffering, will adorn our lives in the way that a beautiful ring compliments the hand that wears it.
2. The Pattern for Suffering (vv. 21-24)
The second indispensable component of suffering that Peter gives us is the pattern for suffering. Christ himself is the pattern that Peter gives us. Peter notes that we were called to this suffering. This word is linked closely to one of Peter’s key words that he uses throughout his letter. It is the elect who are the ones called to suffer.
Verse 21 says, “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” The word translated “example” was used of an alphabet tablet from which children would copy. They followed the written example line by line. Our goal is to follow in Christ’s path step by step. We are to go where He went and this example that Christ gave us is to suffer. Charles Sheldon, received inspiration from this verse to write the book, “In His Steps,” in the early part of the 20th century. The characters in this book were challenged to ask themselves the question, “What would Jesus do?” The real questions, however, to ask ourselves from this verse are, “What did Jesus do?” and, “How can I follow in his footsteps of suffering?” This verse calls for a commitment to the real sufferings of Christ.
How have you viewed the Christian life? Have you seen it as a means of gain for yourself or a means of suffering? Peter says that we as believers are to live with a calling to suffer. With this in mind Peter describes 5 key elements to Christ’s suffering that we are called to follow.
a. Beyond reproach (no sin, no deceit) (v. 22)
First of all, Peter says we are to be beyond reproach. Verse 22 notes that Jesus committed no sin, nor was there any deceit or deception found in His mouth. No one could accuse Him of any wrongdoing. So much so that at Jesus’ trial it took them a long time just to make up some wrong doing about Him. What about you? Are you committed to being beyond reproach? Or do you let things slide at work? (It’s a stupid rule anyway) (That doesn’t apply to me) (Just this once) Have you found yourself saying these things? If you have, will you now commit yourself to being like the Lord Jesus? Will you say that by His grace you will live a life beyond reproach?
What does it mean to be beyond reproach? It may mean that you will make these things right with others, if you have given others reason to reproach your name as a Christian. The first key element is that we are to be without reproach. Let us examine our actions and motives in every area of our lives and ask the Lord to show us where we have fallen short in this. Allow His grace to work in your life and give to you the freedom to suffer, not for doing wrong but for doing what pleases the Lord.
b. Within the will of God (quotation from Isa 53)
The second key element Peter gives us here is that Jesus was operating within the will of God. This point may be more intrinsic than extrinsic. Let me tell you how I derived this point. Peter is quoting from Isaiah 53 in this verse. He is showing that in His suffering Jesus was fulfilling the will of God. Here He is carrying out what the Scripture portrays for his life. The point is that you can be suffering and be in the will of God. There are some Christians today that say, if you are not rich, then you are not acting in faith. This is the premise of the Word Faith movement. The leaders in this group will say that sickness, failure and poverty come about in a Christian’s life because they refuse to claim God’s promise for wealth, health and prosperity. This is what Fred Price or Benny Hinn say with regularity. It will amaze you what they say. They announce that God wants you to be rich. However, the Scripture teaches just the opposite. (2 Tim 3:12; 1 Tim 6). These men are false apostles teaching a creed that goes against what Peter and the Word of God is teaching. You can be undergoing suffering for the cause of Christ and be in the center of God’s will. And this is what Peter notes about Christ. His suffering was within the will of God. You too should make sure that suffering you are going through is because of the will of God.
c. Without retaliation (no counter attack or threatening) (v. 23)
The third key element in Christ’s suffering we are to follow is that we are to respond to suffering for doing right without retaliation. In both verbal abuse and physical abuse, Jesus did not retaliate. Verse 23 says this. “While being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats.” If anyone had both the reason and power to do so, it would have been Christ. If you had been Christ wouldn’t you have wanted to respond to those men who hit you and asked you to tell them who it was? When the soldiers pounded the spikes into your hands, wouldn’t you have wanted to give it back to them and pin them to the cross and nail their hands? When the men passed by and hurled insults at you and said, “Why don’t you come down from that cross?” Wouldn’t you have flown down and slapped them in the face? The innocent Lamb of God could have done all these things but He refused to do so. Instead He said, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” He alone was the innocent one. He alone deserved none of what happened to Him. Yet he suffered without retaliation. There was no, “I’ll get you,” there was no, “See you in court,” there was no, “Don’t think you’ll get into my lane,” or no, “See if you get my help next time.” There were no sharp, biting comments, no shaken fists, not even a scowl or grimace, but only a deep desire to see these people who hated Him to be brought to know a loving heavenly Father who cares for their every need.
d. Committed (gave himself over to God’s care)
The fourth key element in Christ’s suffering we are to follow is that we are to commit ourselves to God’s care. The end of verse 23 says, Jesus “kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” The verb, “entrust” indicates that Jesus continued to practice this act of allowing the Father to be in control of the situation. Didn’t Jesus have power to lay down His life and to take it up again? Yes He did! But even so He allowed the Father to call the shots. Do you want control of the situation? Do you want to make sure everything is played out the way you think it should be run? Or will you give it into the hands of the Father to work out according to His plans? This doesn’t mean that we just give up. In the agonizing hours in which Jesus was upon the cross, the gospel of John makes it very clear that Jesus had not just given up but that He was consciously aware of God’s will and was seeking to accomplish it. In those agonizing hours He brought a thief to faith in Himself, found a home for His mother, and fulfilled at least three separate Old Testament prophecies concerning Himself. Because He was suffering, did not mean He threw in the towel. He only did that when His mission was fulfilled. He threw in the towel only according to His father’s will. Suffering according to the will of God is not some passive act in which we allow ourselves to be driven against our will. On the contrary, we should joyfully embrace the suffering that God has graciously given to us for His purposes. We cannot muster up a false kind of “praise the Lord” joy in our own strength. This joy that comes must be a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, welling up inside, as we commit ourselves to God’s care. It comes when we consciously recognize that the trial we are facing is in God’s hands. “Jer. 12:5 says, “If you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you how will you compete with the horses.” If the petty trials and suffering cause us to react in an ungodly manner, how can we see God work in our lives in greater ways. If the traffic jams, red lights and careless drivers cause us to take matters into our own hands, if the computer hang-ups and the disobedient child cause us to lose our cool, if the pay problems and the unending weeks of macaroni make us doubt God’s control over our finances, then how can we ever hope to see God work out our self-centered focus in which we think we know better than God what should be going on in our lives. Let us lay aside the “me focus” that is so prevalent in each of our lives and commit each situation to God. It is impossible for God to use us when we are “me focused.”
e. Sacrificial
The fifth and final key element in the suffering of Christ we are to follow is that we are to be sacrificial. Verse 24 describes this. “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” This was sacrifice. He gave His life for ours. He gave up His life. This was the ultimate sacrifice. How often are we worried about how our investments are doing or how I am going to make it when I retire? When have we been concerned about our coworker who is drinking himself to death, or that mom next door who is falling apart at the seems because she doesn’t know what to do with her kids? We are probably too often envying that neighbor because of his boat instead of sacrificially giving ourselves away in prayer for them over the condition of their soul. We envy them because they are prosperous physically when we should be concerned for them because they are bankrupt spiritually.
The apostle Paul said it this way, “I am being poured out as a drink offering.” He was pouring out his life for the sake of others coming to know Christ. We have to get a grasp on Christian discipleship. Following Jesus means following in His footsteps to the cross. It means giving up our rights for the sake of others. We can follow Jesus in His sacrificial road of suffering and have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11) or we can follow the path of our own desires. But when we get to the end of this life we will realize that the temporary things we strove for in this life are not going to mean much in light of what Christ called us to do and who He called us to be. Our lives, our goods and our families belong to Him. The cross is an impossible place to go but Jesus Christ calls us to go there. And where He calls He gives the grace to go. Christ calls us to sacrifice as He sacrificed for us that we should give up our self-focus and live our lives as a sacrifice for others. Let’s not live a farce. We have been called for this purpose that we might follow in His steps to the cross.
3. The Reason for Suffering (v. 25)
The third indispensable component of suffering that Peter describes is the reason for suffering. In verse 25 Peter details for us one reason why Christ suffered. In this reason for Christ’s suffering we see one of the reasons for our own suffering. The effect that Christ’s suffering has upon those who trust Him as Savior is that we are turned back from our purposeless and dangerous wandering into the safe haven of our Shepherd and Guardian. This is what the verse says, “For you were continually straying like sheep but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”
Now the fact that we are called sheep is not a good thing. Sheep need a shepherd because they are not all there mentally. We are not being complimented by being called sheep. As a matter of fact you could probably make a series of jokes about sheep (How do you drown a sheep? What do you call a dead sheep in a closet? Three sheep were walking in the woods and came across a set of tracks . . .). Sheep can go astray without careful attention and are easy prey for predators. We are the same way. Apart from Christ we are aimlessly wandering, attempting to satisfy ourselves in any way we can, seeking to find our way out of dilemmas all on our own, easy targets for sin and attack by demonic predators. But when we turned to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls we were able to find rich spiritual pasture in which to feed, free from worry about predatorial attack and under the watchful eye of the Shepherd and Overseer (the continual watcher) of our soul. Instead of wandering with no direction we were given a direction and purpose to our lives.
But what does this mean for us and our suffering? Why are we to follow in the steps of Christ and suffer? Obviously our suffering does not pay for the sins of those around us, but our suffering in the will of God and in the way that God chooses will bring others to Christ. Others will in turn receive a radical new way of living victorious over the power of sin and be able to live a righteous life pleasing to the Lord. They will receive direction in their lives from their new Shepherd and they will now have the God who sees watching over them in loving care for them.
As I prepared this message I thought about this paradox. How can suffering in the life of a believer cause someone to see this and desire Christ and in essence accept the call to suffer as well? The conclusion to which I came and I believe that it is Peter’s conclusion also, is that as we suffer in God’s will according to God’s grace people around us will see and understand that we really do have a living hope (1:3) and a glorious future (1:11). And people will really want this hope and future even though it may result in suffering. What does all this mean for us?
It means that we must make a commitment to do good regardless of the outcome.
It means that we don’t seek the easy way out of our sufferings nor the world’s way of coping with them
It means that we must remember that the Lord is the God who sees and is near us and with us.
It means that if we are to be without retaliation then we must be ready to respond in a Christlike manner the next time we are unfairly treated.
It means that if we are to sacrifice our lives for Christ then we must carefully view how we handle our time, our possessions and our family.
Let me ask you a question. To you, is God the God who sees or is He the God who can be ignored?
Ignatius was the pastor at the church in Smyrna. Around 110 AD he was arrested and taken to Rome to be martyred. As we meditate on Peter’s message to us this week let me read some of Ignatius’ final words to the Christians at Rome before His martyrdom when he said,
Let me be food for the wild beasts through which I can reach God. I am God’s wheat and I am being ground by the teeth of the wild beasts that I might prove to be pure bread. Better yet, coax the wild beasts that they may become my tomb and leave nothing of my body behind, lest I become a burden to someone once I have died. Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ when the world will no longer see my body.
Today, will you stand up, as Ignatius did, as part of the body of Christ and tell God that you are willing to suffer according to His will for His glory and the expansion of His kingdom on this earth?